29 Weeks

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29 weeks pregnant today. Things I can’t wait for:

* kissing her little cheeks
* finding out what color her hair is
* all the margaritas
* looking like myself again and wearing regular clothes
* never ever being pregnant again
* seeing her first smiles and hearing her first giggles
* eating her toes
* watching Jackson read books to her (he’s been practicing)
* saying her name
* sleeping through the night (hahaha)
* sushi
* and, also, the margaritas. All of them.

I’ve heard that the amount of alcohol that gets passes through breastmilk is so minuscule, it’s nothing to really worry about. But definitely double check with your doctor/pediatrician. I mostly formula-fed jackson and plan to do the same this time around, but when jackson was a newborn, my moms’ group would meet at a neighborhood bar as soon it opened and all the moms (except me) would basically drink and nurse and the same time.

My plan is to try, but honestly I am not sure how I will keep it up after I go back to work. Luckily my awesome (but should be totally old fashioned job Fortune 100 health care/insurance company) workplace just announced a new parental leave policy so I get to stack 4 weeks of fully paid maternity leave on top of disability on top of STD, which I can supplement with PTO for a nice 12 weeks off with pay. The really nice thing about this leave is it is actually parental leave, and applies to adoptions as well. So males, females, same sex couples, everyone gets 4 weeks of paid leave to bond with baby. This makes me so proud of them. I am just crazy in love with my job for lots of reasons though, although I still have this weird paranoid feeling they will figure out they don’t need me when I am on leave, but I know this is totally my mind playing tricks on me as my boss is already talking about who will do all my stuff while I am gone. He is super supportive and I know nothing will happen to my job.

Totally off the subject of drinking though, which I so miss. I had a half glass of wine the other night but felt so guilty, I think because I friend made a comment even though I know he didn’t mean it and was just joking around.

Also looking forward to meeting other mom’s. My group is mostly Childfree so I know no one with a kid. Most of them are happy to be Aunt and Uncle but I think having parent friends will be helpful.

That’s great. Every business/company/employer who can should be offering 12 weeks paid paternity leave to new parents. Unfortunately, it’s still a rare thing in the states. And even 12 weeks isn’t very much. You’re just starting to get a little equilibrium at 12 weeks. Six months off is more humane on everyone, but then, I know women who couldn’t wait to get back to work when their 12 weeks was up, so it’s all relative.

Speaking of hair – yours is AMAZING!! When I was pregnant, my hair fell out! Yep, by the beginning of my second trimester, I was completely bald on one side of my head! It was so difficult tryingt to creatively cover my bald spot. You, however, look mahvelous!

You look great Wendy!
And ditto to what somebody said. Girls clothes, accessories,etc are THE BEST. I´m dying to know what name you chose. There ar o many girl names I love. And I could never find a boy one that worked for me. Thank heavens I didn´t have to decide on one.

We were the opposite. We were set on the boys name, but had a bunch of girls options that we couldn’t decide on or didn’t like enough to settle on. We did ultimately decide on one, but now we don’t need it 😛

-Finding out my niece’s name!
-Finding out her hair color (fingers crossed for red!)
-Being another adult support person for her
-Watching Jackson be a protective older brother
-Seeing how a new life changes our whole family dynamic. Jackson made it so much more fun. I can’t wait to see how things will be different with this little one!

Also, my sister looks gorgeous all the time, but pregnancy definitely suits her.

Happy anniversary to Wendy and Drew, and happy birthday to Wendy’s and my mom!

So funny, this link showed up in “other links you might like” the day before I am officially 29 weeks with my baby girl. I am also craving sushi and margaritas. As well as Italian subs. I am nervous for another baby, but also excited to see her big brother with her…And also never being pregnant again!! 🙂